The shape of
a self.
The standards by which Ipseity, Academy of the Self appears in the world — name, marks, palette, language, and the discipline that holds them together.
— Mission
To reintroduce the Self as a tool of discovery and the operating system of identity.
01 — Identity
Ipseity, Academy of the Self.
Ipseity is the philosophical term for selfhood. The IA is the institution built around its study.
Where personal branding has been about seeking visibility, Ipseity reframes it as integrating visibility — placing the self underneath the discipline. Identity and what becomes seen are downstream of who a person actually is.
Lead with Ipseity, Academy of the Self on first reference. Short forms: Ipseity, the Academy. Never "AOS."
Founder
Cynthia Johnson
Motto
IPSE POTENTIA EST.
Translation
"The self is power."
Domain
ipseity.com
Alt domain
academyoftheself.com
Contact
Alt contact
02 — Marks
The shield. The wordmark. The monogram.
The shield is the primary mark — heraldic, monumental, capable of standing alone. The horizontal lockup is used where wordmark legibility is required. The IA monogram is the compact alternative — favicons, social avatars, embossing, and small-format applications where the shield would not read.
Shield · Primary
Shield · Reverse
Horizontal · Primary
Horizontal · Gold
Monogram · Ink
Monogram · Gold
Monogram · Reverse
Clear space
Maintain a margin equal to the height of the shield's chevron on every side. Never crowd the mark.
Minimum size
Shield: 32px digital, 0.5in print. Horizontal lockup: 120px digital, 1.25in print.
Don't
Recolor the mark, rotate it, place it on photographs without contrast, or apply effects (drop shadow, gradient, outline).
03 — Emblems
The four marks of the Method.
Each pillar of the Ipseity Method™ carries its own emblem — small heraldic icons drawn from nature and ritual. They are used to mark the three pillars and the closing arc across the site, the curriculum, and the brand book itself.
Dragonfly
— Self
Feather
— Identity
Disco
— Brand
Roots
— Significance
04 — Palette
Four colors. One discipline.
Deep Ink and Cloud White carry the page. Heraldic Gold marks significance — never decoration. Mid Navy is for smaller body type.
Secondary · Foreground · Authority
Deep Ink
#101B38
hsl(223, 56%, 14%)
Primary · Accent · Significance
Heraldic Gold
#D8A430
hsl(41, 69%, 52%)
Background · Page
Cloud White
#F6F6F2
hsl(60, 14%, 96%)
Muted Foreground · Body Mid
Mid Navy
#2B4366
hsl(216, 41%, 28%)
05 — Typography
Two voices. One register.
Display & Body Serif
Aa
Fraunces / IvyJournal
Headings, titles, editorial body. Light (300) for display, regular (400) for paragraphs. Italics carry meaning.
A study of the self.
The body of work, set in serif. Calm, paced, declarative.
Sans · Interface & Eyebrows
Aa
Inter
Navigation, eyebrows, buttons, captions. Weights: 300, 400, 500. Uppercase tracking: 0.3em–0.4em.
— Eyebrow Style
Navigation Item
Standard interface caption, set at sm.
Aa
Display · 5xl–7xl
Aa
H1 · 3xl–5xl
Aa
H2 · xl–2xl
Aa
Body · base–lg
06 — Voice
Restrained. Editorial. Significant.
Ipseity reads like a serious publication, not a sales page. We persuade through clarity, not volume.
Do
- ◆Restrained. Editorial. Confident.
- ◆Sentences that earn their length.
- ◆Concrete nouns; precise verbs.
- ◆Italics for emphasis, sparingly.
- ◆Em dashes — used to extend a thought, not to soften it.
Don't
- ◇Hype, hustle, or growth-marketing tone.
- ◇Stacked exclamations or rhetorical questions.
- ◇Casual contractions in headlines.
- ◇Clichés: "unlock," "level up," "game-changing."
- ◇Emojis in product surfaces.
In voice
A framework for building reputation through identity, capacity, and integral visibility.
Off voice
Unlock your authentic personal brand and 10x your visibility today!
07 — Naming & Architecture
The names hold the structure.
Brand and curriculum share one vocabulary. Use the canonical names exactly — they are how the work is recognized and remembered.
Ipseity
The brand. Always capitalized. The Latin root for selfhood.
Academy of the Self
Full descriptor. Use after Ipseity on first reference.
Curriculum · Community · Collaboration
The three paths. Always in this order.
Cohort
The flagship 12-week convening. A small, hosted reading room — not a course, class, or program. Capitalized when referring to the offering.
Self · Identity · Brand
The three pillars of the curriculum, in this order.
Integral Visibility
The closing element. The purpose the three pillars build toward — visibility integrated with identity, capacity, and reputation.
Personal branding (reframed)
An expansion of the discipline — the shift from seeking visibility to integrating it. Use this framing on first reference when introducing the Academy's position. Note the alignment with 'integral visibility' — both share the same root.
Significance & Personal Brand
The closing 3-week arc. Proper noun — preserve the ampersand.
Brand
Default term in marketing copy when referring to a person's public form.
— Stewardship
The brand is not a style. It is a discipline of the self — held by emerging identity, carried across time and space.
For brand questions, write to [email protected]